Chapter Ten
Newlywed
Everything was a haze and uncomfortably warm as he woke. His body felt heavy, as if he had been in a battle lasting a week without sleeping. The way the dense sleep lingered even after he mustered the strength to open his eyes left him in a less than pleasant mood. When he tried to move, his neck and shoulder were sore and stiff, making it almost too painful to sit up. Giving up, he settled for laying still and trying to gather his thoughts. Much to his relief he was in the room he remembered paying for though, his last memory was stumbling his way back up the stairs to said room and knocking. It was a swirling blur after that. He groaned, and made another attempt to sit up. As he did, he was surprised he hadn't realized he was still fully clothed. It made sense now why he felt so warm.
He'd almost forgotten about the woman on the other side of a pillow fence between them remained face down and asleep. There was a pillow over her head and a blanket half-off of her. He debated for a moment if he should wake her, but chose not to. The sun had just barely risen yet and it was too early still. But despite how groggy he felt, he knew he wouldn't be able to return to sleep. Bacchus leaned back against the pillows and headboard, taking another glance at Cana who continued to look peaceful as she slept.
Unable to keep still, he slid out of bed as quietly as he could and stripped off his tunic, immediately feeling much better and cooler. After washing his face in the basin next to the tub, he felt some of the groggy feeling dissipate and stretched out his back and arms. When he felt good and loosened up, he took a good look around the room as it was beginning to lighten from the sunlight that was starting to peak in through the drawn curtains, allowing him to see the details he wasn't sober enough to the night before.
He walked back over to the bed, and pulled the blanket up over Cana. It's not too late. We have time to turn back. It made him uneasy to think of returning to Yi Kai and he felt his chest tighten and something shake inside of him. Cana had somehow convinced him that they needed to go, and who was he to deny her after the effort she had already put in to helping him. Reluctantly, he allowed her to come along, reasoning that she could be useful and was able to pull her own weight.
"Can I help you?" He voice was sharp as it came from under the pillow, startling him. Taking a step back, he caught the pillow she flung at him. Her hair was all a tousled mess of waves and curls. Something about the way she looked, even the tired pout on her face made her near radiant. He felt himself smiling and chuckled.
"Sleep well?" Bacchus tossed the pillow back onto the bed and looked her over once more.
"I'm beginning to think maybe we ought to disguise you as a rare beast." She rubbed at one eye. "It'd be believable since you already snore as loud as one." His chuckled burst into a laugh then.
"Kept you up did I?" He rubbed at his sore neck and shoulder while she shot him a near deadly look.
"What time is it?" Her voice was hoarse with sleep and her eyes half-lidded.
"Dawn." Bacchus answered, earning a groan from her.
"You seem to like this hour a lot." The card reader plopped backwards onto the bed and enveloped herself in the blankets once more.
"A habit of mine." Something in him shook again. "We'd better get going." Bacchus added. "The merchant ships should be sailing in within the hour and we have a better chance getting onboard with one of them than the fishermen."
He expected her to groan and gripe, but to his surprise she threw the covers off and sat back up slowly. Taking it as confirmation, he pulled on the white tunic he had on before and waited patiently on the bench for her to change behind the screen. Then came the part he dreaded: the makeup to hide his tattoos.
When they had finally finished and made their way down to the docks, it was just as he had thought. While there had been only a few fishing ships the day before, there were easily twice as many merchant ships in the morning.
"They like to come in early, get what they need and then sail on the late morning tide. Keeps them on schedule." He told her as they walked through the docks. It was easy to tell which ships were Yikani native by their long narrow build and plain white sails. While most merchants used colorful fabrics, patches and streamers, the Yikani found that it made it difficult for pirates to tell the difference between ships with valuable cargo and those with considerably less desirable goods.
The first captain they approached was a richly dressed, short and stout man with rounded shoulders and a gut that threatened to burst through the buttons on his shirt. He sported a thin, greasy moustache that did little for his looks. There was no doubt that the slime ball was more interested in having only Cana travel with him. Luckily for them, he wasn't sailing directly back to his home country just yet so they were able to quickly decline and move on to the next one. This one was a taller man, near as tall as Cana with a leathern, wind burnt face and long wisps of hair hanging from the corners of his mouth. He had hard, beady eyes that were blacker than ink and wrinkled at the corners. There was clear strength in his arms still, though he must have been old enough to have grandchildren. He had not always been a captain Bacchus knew, when he took note of the faint scar beneath the man's left eye where skin had been scraped off. It had shrunk and was almost hidden beneath the wrinkles, but he knew where to look. He took a liking to this man, but unfortunately, just as the captain before him he was also not sailing for Yi Kai just yet.
They'd gone from ship to ship, even approaching other foreign merchants and found that they had either just sailed from there or had more stops to make before returning. Much to his disappointment, it was beginning to look like their luck was going to be similar to yesterdays. The full harbor was starting to fill up more with various folk, but the merchants gradually were beginning to find their way back to their decks and started weighing anchor.
"Looks like we'll be staying another night." Cana sipped the ale in her mug.
They were sitting at a table in the bar from the day before, drinking away their woes.
"It would seem so." Bacchus wasn't sure if he was relieved or not about that.
"Don't look too disappointed now." She wiped the corner of her mouth.
"We can still go back and forget about this trip." He blurted.
"Getting cold feet?" Cana quipped and looked up at him with sharp eyes.
"Not at all."
"Heading to Yi Kai for your honeymoon are you?" A man sitting at the bar a few feet away from them said. He was an average looking man with a non-distinct face and dressed plainly. His green eyes smiled with him in a kindly way and even with some silver salting the sides of his chestnut brown hair, he didn't look to be much older than five and thirty. "Newlyweds?" He asked while ordering a drink of his own. Bacchus could feel how Cana shifted beside him, she was clearly wary of him. He only placed his hand on hers and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Wed only a few days ago. How did you know?"
"I have an eye for such things. That and you both are simply radiant with budding love." The man smiled wider.
"That so?" He glanced at Cana who tried in vain to make the frown on her face a pleasant smile.
"Name's Bern." He raised his drink to them, which Bacchus mimicked.
"Ahn. And this is my wife Lyana." She was not as eager to raise her drink.
"Ahn and Lyana." Bern repeated their names back. "Missed your boat?"
Bacchus gave a good-hearted laugh at that and put his arm around Cana, squeezing her to him.
"She's still mad." They both laughed then. "Had a bit much to drink the other night and woke up too late."
"Tickets paid for an all?"
"Paid for and all." Bacchus sighed. His arm lingered around her and he caressed her arm.
Bern winced with sympathy. "Sorry to hear, friend. Have you any reserve plans?"
"Unfortunately not. My father is in Yi Kai and is too old for travel. I'd hoped to have him meet his new daughter." He gave his companion's arm another squeeze and kissed her cheek. The way her body went rigid had him trying his best to keep from smiling too widely. He knew he'd have to watch for a flying shoe later.
"That is unfortunate." The other man crossed his arms and shook his head. "And with so little of them sailing there, I can't imagine that you've had much luck booking another passage."
"Why would that be, do you know?" Cana asked. The corner of Bern's mouth curled downward into a half-frown.
"I've heard rumors of war, but nothing concrete." His voice lowered when he spoke. Whatever he had heard was troubling, which in turn troubled Bacchus.
"That would explain why my father hasn't written in some time." He dropped his gaze. Bern nodded, clearing his throat and they were all quiet.
"They say there's something going on in the palace. Something about the empress dying and her daughters are feuding with each other on who is going to be the next to rule."
He struggled now to keep from shaking at the thought of the palace. His jaw clenched and unclenched and he swallowed down some more beer.
"Well, we'd best get going. We need to try a few more ships before they leave." Cana's voice was soft, but he knew why she was urging them to go.
"The lady had spoken." He gave Bern a grimace and smiled. "It was good meeting you Bern." The other man's mouth twitched and he glanced over his shoulder. Bacchus noticed but paid it no mind and left the payment on the table.
"You know, I may know of one merchant who goes there directly after they visit this port."
"Oh?" Bacchus stopped to turn back around.
"Look, you two seem like nice people and I'd hate for you to run into some trouble."
"I think we can manage." He approached and sat beside the green-eyed man who hesitated before going on and glancing around once more.
"There's this merchant, Captain Wu, who usually sails in on the evening tide around this time of month."
"Wu?" The name was oddly familiar to him. "Where can we find him?"
"Usually the first few piers. A drinker that one I heard."
He quirked his eyebrow at Cana who shared a similar look with him.
"Sounds like an interesting captain."
"I wouldn't put it that way. Wu isn't the most reputable person to drop anchor here. If there were any others, I'd recommend them instead."
He clapped Bern on the shoulder and smiled broadly. "Thank you Bern. We just might have gotten a second chance to see my father because of you."
"Be careful Ahn."
"We will be." He told the man, pressing enough coin for his drink and a few more into his hand. "Come on Lyana." Bacchus wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her outside.